Repercussions
by The Other Side of E
Summary: Keith is reckless, Lance is mad, where will they go from here? Oh yeah, to awkwardness and kissing, that's where.


SPOILER WARNING! If you have not seen to the end of season 4 than turn back.  
If you still continue don't come crying to me about it.

I've recently become Voltron trash so I'm sharing/forcing my obsession with/on all of you. I own nothing.

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Repercussions

There was to be a feast tonight in the castle, and though Kieth didn't relish crowds, he was looking forward to seeing everyone again. Taking up with the Blades of Marmora had been what he'd felt called to do but it didn't mean he didn't miss his friends. The other Blades knew it would be too awkward for them to join the festivities but they preferred it that was. Lucky stiffs, he didn't really enjoy these things either.

He'd only just gotten back, only enough time to remove his gloves and wipe some of the grime from his face. He knew he should change but the armor made him feel safer and you could never be to careful. Besides, he was representing the Blades of Marmora too.

The room was packed when he entered, contingents from all over the Alliance were there to thank the Paladins of Voltron and to celebrate the recent victory. Keith's eyes scanned the room and spotted his friends. Hunk and Koran were animatedly talking as Pidge and a taller boy that looked remarkably like her stood and listened. The boy must be her brother Matt, who'd he yet to be introduced to but he'd heard about non-stop from the green Paladin.

He smiled softly, he was so happy for her, at least she'd found one of her missing pieces on this trip to the far side of the cosmos. Keith's eyes darted to the striking white hair of the Princess, Allura's back was to him and she seemed to be talking to some one. She stepped slightly to the side and he could see who it was, the current red Paladin, Lance.

Keith could admit his changing opinion of the dark skinned boy over the time he'd known him. At first he'd thought him simply an idiot with a big mouth, easily forgotten. Then he'd gotten to know him and found he possessed a deep loyalty and devotion to his teammates he hadn't expected but greatly appreciated. He had some skill as a pilot but he'd never tell the other that. And though they didn't fully get along he could say they weren't exactly rivals anymore.

He made his way over to them letting an easy smile grace his face. Immediately he was bombarded with hugs and handshakes. Shiro broke away from some diplomats, coming up to join them from the other side. He hugged him the tightest and told him what a good job he'd done. From the intensity he was exhibiting Keith knew he'd heard what he'd almost done. He was thankful the Lieutenant didn't say anything but he knew he'd get a lecture later.

By the time he'd made the rounds of his friends he realized Lance was no longer there. He hadn't even gotten to say hi or interrogate him on how he was treating Red. He shrugged, probably off chasing another cute alien.

* * *

After about an hour of talking, or in his case listening, to the ambassadors they finally sat down to dinner. It was great food so he knew Hunk had been someway involved in it's creation. Speaking of Hunk his large friend was seated between him and Lance so he missed another opportunity to talk to him.

It was getting late and the meal had long since wound down, many of the delegates had wandered off to their ships. Keith was tired and desired to head for his bunk. He said his goodnights but noticed Lance had already stood and was headed out of the room.

It rankled him, was the guy avoiding him for some reason? He couldn't understand why, though the Cuban boy had seemed unusually quiet tonight. He decided to follow him to make sure he was alright.

Once in the hallway he jogged to catch up. "Lance," he called out to stop him but the Paladin continued as if he hadn't heard. "Wait up, man."

"I'm tiered, Keith. I just want to go to bed." Lance's voice was drained of its usual spark.

Keith was really worried now, this wasn't like him. He grabbed hold of the other boy's elbow to pull him back. "Lance, stop! What is up with you, man?"

Lance spun around and glared, his eyes sharp blue shards of glass. "What's up with me? What's up with _you_! You tried to kill yourself out there!"

Keith reeled back as if he'd been slapped. At first he was simply shocked by the outburst but then what he'd said sunk in. "You heard." His voice had gone whisper-soft for a moment.

Lance waved his arms out dramatically. "Of course I heard! That was damn..." he bit off his next words so hard the former red Paladin could hear his teeth grind.

Several heavy breaths passed between them as Keith processed this situation. "I was doing what I thought I needed to for the mission." His words didn't hold as much conviction as he'd hoped.

"The mission," Lance spit out. "You were being selfish and desperate. What would've been the point if it hadn't worked?" He crossed his arms in a defiant stance.

"It would've worked," his voice was devoid of the confidence he'd had at the time.

"You don't know that!" Lance exploded as he flung his arms out wide.

Keith frowned. "You don't know it _wouldn't_ have worked. Besides, why are you so upset about this?"

Lance made a strangled sound and gripped his hair. "Everyone's upset! And why wouldn't we be?" He shut off, wiping the expression from his face. "You don't get it." He turned to walk away again.

Keith was boiling inside, he didn't understand what was so upsetting and he didn't like not knowing. "Explain it to me!" he demanded at the blue-clad boy. It was a response to what Lance had said, but also to his own mind to settle the confusion.

Lance stopped but didn't turn. "What's the point. You'll just go pulling stunts like this again." He sounded totally and utterly defeated.

"It wasn't a stunt!" He was frustrated, why couldn't this guy understand? "I did it for all of _you_!" he blurted, not really thinking about his words.

Lance spun back around. "Really?" he sneered. "And if it'd been one of _us_ that had done that? If one of _us_ had died?"

Keith blanched. That was sobering, he didn't even want to consider it. They'd almost lost Shiro a couple of times now and that had been devastating enough. But one of the others? Allura, Coran, Hunk, they would rarely put themselves in that position but he knew they'd do it. The thought put a cold chill down his spine. Pidge, she would do it in an instant if another option couldn't be found, especially for Matt, but for any of the others as well.

Lance. Lance was all cocky attitude and cheesy lines, but when it came right down to it he would step in front of a blaster for any one of them. Hell, within only knowing Coran for a few days he'd used his own body to shield him from a bomb blast.

"Lance." He'd later deny the sudden tremor to his voice.

The expression on his face must have been drastic because Lance took one look at him and crumpled. The blue-eyed boy gripped Keith's shoulders and bent over so the crown of his head was pressed to Keith's chest. "You big dummy."

His words were distinctly more watery than they had been and Keith's eyebrows rose sharply. He held onto Lance's arms to steady them both. "Lance?" he whispered again, unsure now that they weren't fighting.

Lance's next words were so softly spoken that if the hallway hadn't been so still or the other boy so close he wouldn't have heard them.

"We're so far from Earth, from home. We're all we have out here. We're a family and nothing is more important than that. Nothing." As he spoke his voice began to croak until he was choked off. "We can't – we can't lose..."

Keith was devastated. He didn't do well with emotions, not his, and especially not other people's. All he could think was he didn't want this, he didn't want to see Lance this hurt. Only one other time had he seen Lance come close to reaching this level of emotion, and oddly enough he'd come to _him_ that time as well. But this was different.

Sure up until recently their relationship had been about one-upping each other but it wasn't like that now. At least it wasn't that way for him. They were teammates, friends, family, all the things he'd been lacking up until now. Funny, he had to come all the way across the universe and get embroiled in a war to find this.

"Lance, I..." he trailed off with not knowing what to say to make this better. He pulled Lance back to standing straight and saw the fat tears rolling out of his blue orbs.

Lance met his eyes for only a couple of seconds before looking away.

Keith gripped his arms tighter. Something in his chest tightened at the sight of the other boy's pain-riddled face. It was an ache so sharp it almost took his breath away. He'd never felt like this before.

True it could be attributed to the fact that he'd never been that close to anyone other than Shiro before but this was different. He realized in that moment he'd do anything to see Lance smile again. That was a revelation to him. And one, he suspected, had been coming from the moment they'd jointly rescued Shiro back on Earth.

The reason they butted heads, the reason Lance came to him, the reason they were fighting now. The opposite love of is not hate, it's indifference.

Lance didn't _want_ him to become indifferent, to leave him alone. God help him, he didn't want that either. He sucked in a breath, there was something else he wanted with Lance. Not just to be his friend or brother. How could he have not seen this? The room spun as his perception of the world tilted on it's axis.

He gulped a breath to silence his nerves, it only barely helped. If he was wrong, if he were projecting his feelings – oh _fuck_! His heart rate spiked. He needed to do this, before his chance passed. Before he lost his nerve.

Keith let go of Lance's arms in favor of cupping his face in his hands. Lance immediately stopped crying and his eyes went wide as he once again focused on the half-Galra.

"Keith?" he said in a distinctive squeak.

"Sorry," he mumbled before firmly pressing their mouths together. It was chaste, awkward, and Lance didn't respond, just stood in frozen surprise. After a few seconds Keith let go and backed up a step, his face flamed with a deep blush. He stared at the ground between them in shame. Oh, fuck, he'd just ended everything. "Sorry," he stressed again.

There was only silence and Keith started to sweat, seriously uncomfortable in the skin-tight suit which seemed ten times smaller all of a sudden. He was about to make a break for it when Lance's voice halted him in his place.

"What are you sorry about?"

Keith snapped his eyes up to scan his face. "What?" Oh, good, eloquence. At least Lance didn't look mad, simply confused and a bit curious.

"Are you sorry you kissed me?" His countenance dropped some at the question.

What could he say to that? Ah hell, in for a penny, in for a pound. "No!" he blurted. "No, not about that. Unless you want me to be," he hastily added, not sure what the boy would want from him. He scratched the back of his neck self-consciously.

Lance shook his head slowly. "Than, _what_?"

Keith swallowed. "I'm sorry for making you worry, for making all you guys worry. I didn't take into consideration what my actions would do to you."

Lance poked a finger into the black suit at his chest. "Damn right," he chided. "Don't forget that even if we aren't together we're still a _team_. Don't go around trying to break us."

His words held so much weight that it pulled on Keith's heart again. He nodded his understanding and lowered his eyes again, this time only making it to Lance's chest.

Now what? Were they going to go back to the way things were? Was Lance going to brush off the kiss as if it never happened? The black-haired teen's heart rate spiked again.

"Now, about that kiss." There was a certain smugness to Lance's tone that made the hair on Keith's arms stand on end. "That was truly something to be sorry about."

Keith squeezed his eyes shut. Shit! He _knew_ it, here it comes, the teasing and badgering. God, why was he such a freak!

He nearly jumped out of his skin in the next moment when he felt Lance lazily drape his arms around his neck. His eyes snapped open and he caught just a glimpse of rich blues before Lance leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"That kiss was a travesty. If you would like to try again I think we could do _so much_ better."

Holy hell! Was Lance always this hot? Those words sent a twinge through his core to settle low in his belly. He gripped handfuls of soft blue tunic to steady himself. He'd lost his mental footing for a second before he realized a response was due. "Ye–yeah," oh good, that was sort of speech.

There was a low rumbling chuckle that did horrible/wonderful things to his insides. "Relax Keith, breathe."

Keith did just as instructed and he was met with a wonderful spicy aroma. He buried his nose into dark skin and breathed deep again. He wrapped his arms around the slightly taller teen and pulled him closer.

Lance hummed an appreciative note. "Cuddly Keith, who would've known," he whispered.

A smile spread across Keith's lips and he pressed a soft closed mouth kiss into the skin of the other boy's neck. "Don't you dare breathe a word of this to the others."

Lance chuckled and shook his head slightly. "Wouldn't dream of it." He thread his fingers into Keith's shaggy black locks and guided his head back so he could see his eyes. They just stared at each other for a few seconds in this new light they found themselves in.

Keith wasn't sure who moved first but soon their eyes had drifted shut and their mouths met again tentatively. Lance led, Keith was man enough to relinquish to someone who knew what they were doing.

And did he ever know what he was doing.

Gentle brushes of lips led to deeper pushes. Lance wet both of their lips with his tongue, sending a shiver up Keith's spine. This was more intense than anything he'd done before, and that included stepping into the mouth of a robotic lion.

Lance gently parted his lips while angling his head. Oh, this was promising. It was rapidly starting to become one of his favorite things, right up there with knife fighting. Lance tasted of the sweet dessert they'd just had but with a spicy aftertaste. He was instantly addicted.

Their tongues moved against each other, slow and exploring. Keith hitched a breath and let out a little moan. He felt Lance's lips curl in a slight smile, he wanted to be offended but he was having trouble focusing on anything other than Lance's tongue in his mouth.

They went on that way for a while. Few minutes? An hour? Who knows? All Keith knew was that when Lance nibbled his lip then pulled away he must have taken his brain with him.

He was light-headed, and if he weren't holding tight to the other boy he thought he might keel over. "L–" He swallowed, inadvertently tasting more of Lance in his mouth. "Lance," he croaked.

"Yeah?" He was still running his fingers through his now very messy hair and it was damn distracting.

"That was... we... um."

Lance smiled and gave him a chaste peck. "Yeah, _that_ was what a kiss should be like."

Keith nodded his approval of that assessment. He blushed hard. "Could we do it again?"

The Paladin huffed a laugh and cocked an eyebrow. "Right now?"

Keith frowned and shook his head. "No, I mean _yes_ , kisses are great any time, but I mean in the future?" He knew he wasn't being particularly clear with his words.

Lance thought for a moment before the realization lit his eyes. "Like as in boyfriends, and all that cheese?"

The Blade nodded with a small smile. "Are you okay with that?"

Lance didn't verbally respond, though it was an oral response. He kissed the other teen, stealing the breath from him once more.

Keith couldn't say that he minded, though any talking at the moment would have been difficult anyway.

In the last year he'd found a giant robot lion, passed through a wormhole to the far side of the universe, found out he was part alien, and gotten embroiled in a war. But he'd also found people who accepted him. They were his friends, his family, and now he'd found love.

Whatever life threw at them now he was confident they could handle it together. Or maybe that was the dopamine talking, because _damn_ , Lance could kiss!

* * *

I blame this entirely on marathon watching and fanfic binging. Written in one day so typos are a given. I wanted angry kissing and got powdered sugar. Gah! Whatever.


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